Method Receivers - Pointer vs Value

Pointer receivers Vs Value receivers

//pointer receiver

func (t *Type) Method() {}

//value receiver

func (t Type) Method() {}

**When should you use pointer receivers ? **

Modify the receiver If you want to change the state of the receiver in a method, manipulating the value of it, use a pointer receiver. It’s not possible with a value receiver, which copies by value. Any modification to a value receiver is local to that copy.

Second is the consideration of efficiency. If the receiver is large, a big struct for instance, it will be much cheaper to use a pointer receiver.

Value receivers operate on a copy of the original type value. This means that there is a cost involved, especially if the struct is very large, and pointer received are more efficient.

**When should you use value receivers **

If you don’t need to edit the receiver value, use a value receiver. Value receivers are concurrency safe, while pointer receivers are not concurrency safe.

There can be a situation when you might want to use pointer receivers for methods where you’d normally use a value receiver, and it’s when you have other pointer receivers defined on that type, and for consistency you should use pointer receivers across all the methods.